Suzanne Pollak is the author of Entertaining for Dummies and The Pat Conroy Cookbook. She was the spokesperson for Federated Department Stores, giving seminars on home decorating, entertaining, and cooking for many years. Lee Manigault lives in one of the grand 18th-century Charleston homes and hosts an array of activities there.

Nestled deep in the South is a tiny Academy that teaches classes in the most important subject in the world: the domestic arts. The Academy’s unique curriculum includes everything from cocktail-party etiquette to business entertaining, dealing with household guests, and cooking for the holidays. Here, after a little gentle instruction from Deans Pollak and Manigault, interspersed with plenty of humor, students find they are living healthier, having stronger ties to friends and family, and using their houses to branch out in ways they never dreamed possible. Since not everyone can get to their sold-out classes in Charleston, the Deans are now offering this book so happier liv­ing can be within everyone’s grasp, not just the select few.